


Sleeping Faitsu

by thefalconofthefall



Series: Pokespe Fairytails [17]
Category: Pocket Monsters SPECIAL | Pokemon Adventures
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fairy Tale, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Attempted Murder, Cannibalism, Dark Fairy Tale Elements, F/M, Fairy Tale Retellings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-23
Updated: 2017-07-07
Packaged: 2018-11-17 14:48:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 16,012
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11277504
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thefalconofthefall/pseuds/thefalconofthefall
Summary: Now, let me tell you all of the story of a princess named Faitsu, who was blessed with a hundred year sleep...





	1. The Curse

**Author's Note:**

> Final story of the series everyone! Hope you like it!
> 
> Fairy tale: Sleeping Beauty (Perrault version)
> 
> Characters: Beauty (Faitsu), Good Fairy (Yellow), Other Fairies (Silver, Ruby, Platinum, Bianca, Shauna, Moon), Evil Fairy (Emerald), Queen (Blue), King (Red), Old Woman (Wally), Servants (Cheren, Hugh, Sun, Pearl, Anne (Hugh’s little sister))

Long ago, during the days of old, there lived a king named Red, and his wife, Blue. They both were very pious and kind people, who didn’t ask for much but a child. The odds however, seemed to not favor them, as years past by since their marriage, and Blue never so much shown a trace of a sickness that usually past to those who were with children.

But still, in spite of their hopelessness with their plight, they went to pilgrimages, consulted with the most powerful magicians of the world, many that were of Blue’s kin, even the greatest of charms and potions, in hopes of a child, until finally, she was with one.

Such great rejoicing there was to the parents to-be, and even greater when the child was born, a daughter by the name of Faitsu, that a party was thrown in her honor, with Blue’s brother Silver and their cousins, Yellow, Ruby, Platinum, Bianca, Shauna, and Moon, invited to bless the child with the powers of their godly parents, and be received with the great honor of eating and drinking out of beautifully crafted, golden caskets, emblemed with many beautiful jewels.

Now, these seven relatives, as you should have known by now, were demigods, but they were no ordinary demigods. They were members of a group called The Venerated Sorcerers, magicians who served the gods as their most trusted lieutenants, and in return, receive the rare gifts of ageless near-immortality, massive power over their own abilities, and the ability to travel through several other worlds. It may not seem a surprise to you that Blue was one of these powerful sorcerers, with her amiable connections to them, but you possibly would be very surprised that she gave up all of those wonderful things to marry and live with some mortal man for the rest of her long life. Truly, a touching moment of love, the most strangest of things.

Anyways, a very lively party was going on in the palace, with much music, dancing, and chattering among the guests from all over the kingdom and its neighbors, while the king and queen chatted with the magicians near the cradle of Faitsu.

“Congratulations, once more, for giving birth to such a lovely daughter,” Silver said to Blue, smiling down at the blue-eyed baby while scratching her chin.

“And for managing to have a healthy birth and child with a body near the age range of fifty,” Moon added.

“Moon!” Ruby scolded.

“I’m just saying,” she shrugged. “Blue’s biological age is the normal time when women decrease in fertility, plus she had taken quite a bit of damage near her reproductive parts. So from a medical standpoint, this is a miracle, but I guess Xerneas is just being generous.”

“So what does that make for her being able to live for five thousand years without losing much of her sanity and able to love someone romantically?” Shauna asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Someone who isn’t as jaded as you in the views of the world,” Moon replied before taking a sip from her cup of cider.

“She’s so cuuuteee!” Bianca squealed, her head bent down into the cradle to have a closer look of the child.

“Indeed, a very lovely one,” Platinum said with a smile, her head also bent down to have a better look of the child.

“And even more lovely when she grows up!” Ruby declared, a myriad of sparkles forming over him as his back was bent forward and his hand on a chest in a ridiculous pose. “After all, I gave her the valuable gift of beauty!”

“I sometimes can’t believe this is our cousin,” Shauna muttered to Moon, who nodded in agreement.

“But speaking of gifts…” Platinum started, then turned towards Yellow, who was leaning against the wall and amusing herself by cleaning the orb of her staff. “Yellow, what are you going to give to the child?”

The mentioned woman looked up, her shining baby blue eyes fixed onto her. “I don’t know Platinum. I mean, she certainly has all of the qualities a girl would most desire to have. She has beauty, yet a wise and kind heart, and grace, the fuel of the talent of dancing that would most fit with a beautiful voice.”

Now, personally, I wouldn’t desire for any of those qualities, except for a wise and kind heart, and you most likely do too. But remember, these are the days of the old, where women were often expected to look pretty, sing prettily, and walk prettily, with the exceptions of a battlefield, where no time can be wasted for such frivolous things, or if the certain lady couldn’t bother to care, whether on or off the war ground.

Now back to the story. Where was I….Oh! Yes. I was at the point where Platinum nodded in understanding of her older comrade’s wishes, much fitting for her title “The Understander”! And now you already know what happened next, so let’s continue on before you abandon this story.

“I see,” she said, then dipped her head to her comrade. “Take your time, Yellow. We have the whole day in celebration.”

 

“Of course,” Yellow replied, and the younger woman nodded, then left to talk with the king’s advisor, Green.

Now, as you can see, all was peaceful, with merry chats, happy music, and great dancing. And if you had heard enough stories or lived life long enough, you would know that bad things are going to happen.

Right after Yellow had finished her conversation with her younger cousin, a loud, howling wind cloaked in dust, blew into the room, drowning the party into a still, for dust was not a good thing to have in the eyes and mouth.

After a few moments, the roar of the gale went into a silence. After a few more past, the king and queen dared to peek.

And there stood, in the center of the parted crowd, a gremlin.

He was a very short fellow, no taller than a Sylveon, but he was a very mad one. His gray eyes glowed menacingly, as he bared his teeth at the king and queen as if they committed a great atrocity against him, but for some reason, he didn’t point the spear gripped firmly in his hand at them.

Almost immediately after the strange little man appeared, Faitsu started crying, as if she sensed a malicious intent from the surprise newcomer. Silver quickly gathered the small child in his arms, trying to comfort her as he glared at the unwelcome guest, while his comrades went into a battle stance.

 

“What do you want, _Emerald_?” he hissed, as if he also sensed some kind of malevolent plan from the man.

“Wait, you know him!?” Bianca exclaimed, looking at the man with shock along with Platinum, Shauna, and Moon.

“He’s a lieutenant of Jirachi who acquired powers equal to ours to hide from the rest of humanity,” Silver explained, as he snarled at the man. “He helped us at one point of time, but then went back into hiding afterwards.”

“And you never paid me back for that," Emerald snarled. "I had risked my life to save you, and this is how I am repaid. Forgotten, unloved, _unremembered_."

“To be fair, you weren’t there when Silver threatened us to come here,” Moon pointed out.

He then pointed his spear at the child in the arms of her kin, and said, "And you will pay dearly for that.”

“But the child is innocent!” Platinum protested. “She did nothing wrong!”

Her words tragically landed on deaf ears, as the spear and its enraged wielder had already glowed bright yellow the moment the words left her mouth. He cried in a loud voice, "You shall prick your finger on a spindle of a spinning wheel, and die!”

The yellow light immediately left its caster, and charged at Faitsu with alarming speed. Silver quickly backed away as far as he can from the light, and fired a shadowy orb at it, while all the brave people in the room got over their astonishment to fire attacks at Emerald.

Instantly, a flash of blinding green light surrounded the man, causing everyone to retreat their eyes into the safety of their arms. When the light vanished, they dared to look up.

But nothing was there.

“Damn it!” Moon swore, clutching her staff tightly in frustration along with many of her other comrades. “He’s gone!”

“Silver! The curse!” Yellow yelled, pointing at the yellow light that still charged at the child with great speed.

Before Silver can react further, it hit the child.

The child let out a scream and wailed, as if in pain. Blue and Red quickly rushed over to her in evident distress as Silver whispered consoling words in the child’s ear, but cried as he did so.

“My baby!” Blue cried, taking the child in her arms as she tried to comfort her. She then turned to Yellow, Shauna, and Moon, who were looking at the family in sadness. “Please tell me that she’s alright!”

“Blue, it’s no use denying what happened,” Shauna sighed, placing several fingers on her brow. “Be glad that Silver and I aren’t going to take her soul right now.”

Blue started crying, along with her husband, as she clutched tightly the child that suffered in pain in her arms, for what loomed over the child’s shoulders was a curse from the power of Jirachi, the most powerful deity in all of existence, therefore, unable to be vanquished by any other power, whether mortal or godly. Thank the almighty Arceus that the god couldn’t stay awake for so long after three wishes, or the world might as well fall into chaos from the power of an embodiment of emotion at its most restless form. Now back to the story, before you leave as no progress is made and I lose my hope of keeping a lover of my narrations.

Everyone in the room started grieving along with the king and queen over the princess’s befallen doom, with no hopeful and absolute aversion to it. Then, as luck would have it, realization hit Yellow.

“I can reverse this curse by using my blessing!” she thought with newfound glee. “Jirachi’s power may be absolute, but Mew’s power can save anyone from death!”

So with this new resolve, she stepped up to the room and cried loudly to the crowd, “I have a way to save the child!”

Everyone looked up to her, their faces filled of hopefulness at her words.

“While Emerald may have invoked the curse with the power of Jirachi, I can invoke the power of Mew to save Faitsu from death,” she explained, then pointed her staff at Faitsu.

With a glow of pink light enveloping her and her staff, she cried, “You shall prick your finger on a spindle wheel, but instead of falling into the clutches of death that awaits, you shall fall into a deep slumber, and in a hundred years, you will be awaken by a person of worthy!”

The pink light then left its summoner, and flew at the child. When it reached her, it wrapped itself around her, before disappearing.

At that moment, the baby stopped crying, and cooed softly in her mother’s embrace. Blue hugged the child, whispering words of assurance, then looked at Yellow with Red and Silver with appreciative, red eyes. “Thank you, Yellow,” she said.

“It’s no problem, Blue,” the sorcerer replied, then went over to the child, who now looked at her savior. She gave her a small smile, and ran her hand through her soft, chocolate brown hair. “Don’t worry little one, you will be safe. I swear by the name of the gods.”

* * *

 

After that little incident, Red, in an attempt to avert what fate has decreed, made a massive order: to burn all spinning wheels in the kingdom. I’m very certain that the nobles and peasants alike were happy at the sudden price increase on clothing.

Anyways, as the Venerated Sorcerers decreed, Faitsu grew up to be a very beautiful woman, with a very beautiful heart, a very beautiful voice, and a very beautiful way of walking, to fit of course, the most ideal of woman to society at that time. It would be the most foolish to say that she didn’t have many admirers from having this beautiful character, but since the mentioned admirers didn’t want to have a wife that could leave them in a hundred years without warning, they never asked to her parents, who didn’t even allowed any in the first place for they knew of the impatience and treachery that the suitors held dear in their hearts.

One day, when the king and queen were on a trip away from their duties by the courtesy of Yellow, Faitsu, who is now fifteen, decided to wander around the castle, having access to every place on the castle grounds through a master key that her parents trusted with. During this time of exploring unknown places in the palace she grew in, she found a wooden door with iron bars, which, of course, she didn’t recognize.

“I wonder what’s behind there,” she thought, and taking out the key from the pocket, she inserted it into the hole, and turned it.

With a click, she pushed the door open, revealing a gray walled room with wooden floors, and a long, towering, spiral staircase that lead to the unknown above.

“What’s up there?” she wondered, but with a shrug, she went over to the stairs, and started her long trek up to the mysterious room.

When she arrived at the top, she stopped to catch her breath, as the way up was actually that long. After fully recovering her strength, she began to observe the room. It had the same gray walls and wooden floors of below, but for some reason, in the middle of the room, there sat an old man, doing something on a strange device.

Now before I let this story continue, I should inform you that this old man’s name is Wally, a hermit who lived within the tower for years, only going out for food, water, and a peaceful walk late at night, when everyone was already in deep slumber except the guards, who never dared to bother him as he was a resident of the castle, albeit a strange one. As such, Wally had lived in great ignorance for fifteen years, not knowing that what he was doing was punishable by a lifetime in the dungeons or death. Now back to the story.

Faitsu, evidently curious on who the man was and what he was doing, asked, “Who are you and what are you doing?”

The man looked up, surprised at the sudden appearance person in his tower, replied, “I’m Wally, and I am spinning to make some clothing. Who are you, my dear child?”

 

“I’m Faitsu,” she answered, then smiled. “Can I try spinning?”

“Of course, my dear,” he said, then smiled back.

So she went over, with Wally standing up to let Faitsu sit.

As she scanned the device she never had set eyes on before, she noticed a sharp rod at the end of the machine. For some reason, the thing seemed to call for her, nagging her, begging to be touched. How it did that, she didn’t know, but all she knew was that she had the irresistible urge to prick her finger on it.

Finally, she gave into the urge, and pricked her finger on its sharp tip.

Instantly, pain like no other seared from Faitsu’s finger to the rest of her body, as droplets of blood fell onto the wooden platform below. The room suddenly grew dizzy around the princess, as she tried to understand what happened, but before she can fully do so, she fell onto the floor, her eyes sealed shut once her head hit the wooden floor.

“AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!” Wally screamed, his hands clutching tightly on his hair as he registered this horrible sight. When he managed to calm himself for a bit, he bent down to observe further of the girl. To his shock and relief, her face was not deathly pale at all, a normal shade of skin color a living person would be. Daring to test his luck further, he placed his fingers on a certain part of her wrist that was her pulse. Slow, but beating steadily.

He sighed in relief. All he had to do now was call for help. So, for the first time in years, Wally left the tower in broad daylight, but not out of free will, but the anxiousness that fueled him to run and cry for help to the outside world.

* * *

 

“Help! Help!” Wally cried, as he ran through a hallway in panic while accidentally dirtying the floor that a servant named Sun had just cleaned.

“Hey! I just cleaned that!” the servant protested.

Wally turned towards the cleaning servant, who was giving him an angry expression as he clutched the mop in his hands, possibly in annoyance and not in wanting to use it to beat the old man black and blue. At least, I hope so.

“Sorry sir,” Wally said to the black-haired man, dipping his head in apology. “I just wanted to tell you that a woman fainted at the moment she pricked a spindle on my spinning wheel!”

Instantly, the servant’s annoyed face morphed into distress, as unlike Wally, Sun knew of the recent events and laws of the place he lived. “What’s her name?” he asked worriedly.

“Faitsu,” Wally answered.

The man’s face then turned of great horror, and, seizing the man by his wrist, he whispered, “Where is she?”

“The room down there,” he replied, pointing with his other hand to the corridor below. “It leads to a tower where I live.”

“Oh fuck,” Sun muttered. “Red and Blue aren’t going to like this.” Letting go of Wally’s hand, he raced over to the door that lead to the tower, the hermit following after as he now was involved with the incident.

When they finally arrived at the room where the spinning wheel was, Sun immediately rushed over to the princess, and picked her up in his arms.

“We better go tell the others about this,” he said, then raced down the stairs and back into the leveled grounds of the castle, Wally following after, until they were in the throne room, where three guards stood on their post.

The duo was instantly noticed by one of the guards by the sounds of their footsteps, and it took only one glance for those guards to run over to the odd pair.

“What happened to Faitsu!?” one of the guards, by the name of Cheren, asked, as he examined her face.

“She’s alive, don’t worry,” Sun assured. “She just fainted when she touched the spindle of a spinning wheel.”

“Spindle of spinning wheel?” a blue haired guard by the name of Hugh asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Not now Hugh!” a blonde haired man by the name of Pearl snapped, then pushed the raven haired man aside to be closer to the princess. “Let’s wake her up by slapping!”

“How is that a good idea!?” Wally exclaimed.

“Pain is a great way to wake up with,” the guard shrugged, then slapped the princess on the cheek with all his might. No response from the girl.

“Try water,” Sun suggested, then smiled. “That always wakes me up!”

“Hugh, go get a bucket of water,” the raven haired guard ordered.

“Why me?” he asked in confusion.

“Because you’re better in carrying a bucket of water than Pearl or me,” Cheren replied, then pointed at the way of the kitchen, which was across the room. “Go.”

Hugh sighed and nodded, and ran to the other side of the room and into the dining place that was the gateway between the main room of the castle and the kitchen, as Sun set down the girl onto the floor. A few minutes later, he returned with a group of kitchen servants and, surprisingly, an almost full bucket of water.

“Hugh, what happened to Faitsu!?” a kitchen servant by the name of Anne asked, staring in shock along with her fellow servants at the sight of the unconscious princess.

“She fainted,” Cheren replied, not looking up from his examination of the princess.

“Now!” Hugh cried, then dumped the water onto the princess’s face. Nothing.

“Damn it,” he sighed. “That didn’t work.”

Then, as the great Xerneas would have it, wonderful realization dawned on Cheren: they had the water of the god of good luck in their hands. Now, if you had read one of the stories I had told before, you would know that the water of Xerneas was a very powerful object that can resurrect anything with no complications at its highest limit, and at its lowest, can revive anyone from any kind of slumber as long it isn’t death. But of course, that left the question if they still have it.

“Do we have water of Xerneas?” he asked to the servants.

“I think so,” Anne said. “Most likely in the hospital area.”

“Find it,” he ordered, and she nodded, running to the palace doctors, before returning minutes later, with a glass bottle filled of sparkling blue water.

“Here you go sir,” she said, dipping her head.

“Thank you very much madam,” he replied, before pouring some of the medicine into Faitsu’s mouth. Nothing.

“Well we’re fucked,” Pearl sighed.

“No use complaining now,” Cheren said. “Go call the king and the queen.”

Pearl nodded, then closed his eyes, all of his focus dedicated in a telepathic conversation that would soon bring great distress to its recipients.

When he broke off from the conversation, he gave a sorrowful nod to his fellow guards, and everyone turned to the area behind them, waiting for the arrival of their soon to be grieving king and queen. As they expected, three flashes of red, blue, and yellow light appeared in the room, before passing away to reveal the monarchs and sorcerer.

“Oh gods…” Yellow whispered, as Red and Blue rushed over to their daughter’s side, stopping when Blue went down on her knees and clutched her hand.

Sobs started to break from her mouth, before she screamed, “No NO NO NO NO!” She then pulled Faitsu into a hug, tears streaming down her face as she watched her daughter, in between the worlds of life and death, sleep peacefully, blissfully unaware of the grief she caused just for living.

Blue sobbed at that thought. Life’s not fair. It never was. But it didn’t stop her to look up to the ceiling above, and ask in the softest whispers, “Why Arceus? Why?”

All was silent, as they watched their queen, with sadness in their hearts, mourn not only over her daughter’s sorrowful fate, but her flight away from it, ending in such a painful way that she grieved not alone, but in the eyes of many, and their king, who while seemingly emotionless, grieved along with his wife, trying his best to never show any sign of it, as his wish to be a good leader was greater than his wish to express his sorrow.

After what seemed like years, Red slowly moved over to Blue and placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. Turning to him with wet red eyes, she nodded, and with a sigh, she gave a kiss of farewell to her daughter, her husband following after. The two then stood up from the ground, and reluctantly turned to the crowd.

When a few moments of preparing his proclamation past, Red said to the crowd, “Faitsu will be left in peace, alone, in her bedroom.” He paused for a few moments more. “Until someone wakes her, it will remain that way.” He turned to Sun behind him, and nodded. “Take her.”

“Yes sir,” he said, bowing, before picking up the girl and leaving the room.

When he had fully disappeared, Red turned towards Yellow, and asked, “What else you want us to do?”

“You already did your job Red,” the sorceress assured to the king. “I just want everyone in the castle to go to a resting place.”

The crowd murmured to themselves on this strange order, wondering if the woman’s old age had finally caught up to her, but Red simply nodded, though he also shared their bewilderment, as it is rather unexpecting of an ancient sorceress to tell everyone to go lie down somewhere. But either way, everyone retreated to their bedrooms, except for the king and queen, who both sent telepathic messages to the residents of the palace that weren’t there listen to Yellow’s order, before retiring to their own.

When enough time had past for the sorceress to be sure that everyone was lying down somewhere, she raised up her staff, glowing with a light golden hue, before turning into a darker one. For several moments, it remained like that, before the cocoon of light broke out in one large wave.

By now, you may have guessed that this spell was a sleeping spell, thanks to another story similar to this you most likely have heard before being here right now. And indeed it was, and much like that story, anyone and anything who was affected by it would only awaken when the princess did, as to diminish her distress when she woke up in an unfamiliar castle, to serve her at her need, and for the machines and flames, to not destroy the castle.

When this was done, Yellow, knowing that anyone or anything could easily destroy the castle, conjured up a spell, in the form of a pink orb surrounded by yellow mist, and as before, broke out into one large wave. But instead of inducing deep slumber on anything it touched, it fortified the walls, both of and surrounding the castle, and a massive grove of trees and plants, all connected by a thick blanket of brambles that guarded the palace from the sight and travels of man and Pokemon, with the exception of the roofs of the towers, visible from a distance away.

Once all of that was done, she left, as the last traces of a living soul in the castle, before a hundred years past.


	2. The Prince

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rakutsu goes off to wake up the princess from her century long sleep. 
> 
> Or a half-manakete asks Mr. Perfect for a favor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Characters: Prince (Rakutsu), Servants (Leo, Tierno, and Hau), Champlain (Trevor), Peasant (Emma), Messenger (Sapphire), Lady in waiting (Crystal)

As you may have known by now, a hundred years had past since that fateful incident, and surprisingly, not much has changed within the kingdom where it all took place. Other than Blue’s relatives, X and Y, taking hers and her husband’s place in leadership, the kingdom is still alive as ever, with great peace, prosperity, and protection from the time of Red and Blue still hanging on its shoulders, that all her fellow sorcerers needed to do was choose the person worthy enough to wake up Faitsu and wait for the hundred years to end.

 

One day, exactly a hundred years since the said princess had fallen into her deep slumber, the neighboring kingdom’s prince Rakutsu was out on a stroll near the castle he lived, when he caught his first sight of his future wife’s home.

 

Now you may be wondering: “ _ How in Giratina’s court did Rakutsu notice those towers that had been standing long before he was born?”  _ My answer to your questions that is not the least inconsolable to your  _ very  _ important thoughts: I don’t know, so keep your mouth shut and continue reading this story.

 

Anyways, when Rakutsu registered the sight far from him, he thought, “ _ What the hell  _ **_is_ ** _ that?” _

 

Now before you start questioning why he was thinking like that, I will tell you, and I swear by the gods’ good names I will give you a proper answer:

 

Those towers were in the middle of the Impenetrable Forest. 

 

What  _ was _ the Impenetrable Forest, you may ask? Why, it was a forest where no living thing roamed, except for brambles, brambles that twisted with one another to form thickets, thickets so strong and dense that nothing, not even the greatest powers of man and Pokemon combined, can destroy it. No wonder why Rakutsu was surprised at the sight of a building in the middle of it.

 

But, knowing that his mind would go restless at the thought of leaving the mystery of the towers that stood on a very unlikely location unsolved, Rakutsu, in hopes of someone knowing better than him, went back into the castle, and wandered through the place for a while, until he stumbled upon the throne room, where he caught the sight of his friend Leo, talking in the corner with some other men that he can vaguely remember as Tierno and Hau.

 

“Hello, Leo,” Rakutsu greeted, as he walked towards them with a small smile.

 

The mentioned man and his friends turned towards the prince, and returned with a wide, friendly smile.

 

“Hello Rakutsu,” Leo greeted back. “What do you need?”

 

“Well, I just need someone to tell me what’s with the towers that is in the Impenetrable Forest,” he replied, then shrugged. “ _ If _ we can call it impenetrable.”

 

A shadow of fear fell over the three men’s faces, before Tierno cleared his throat.

 

“Well, you see, we don’t know what exactly is with those towers,” he said, then shuddered. “But when I was a kid, if we misbehave, we were threatened to be thrown near the forest, where a monster will come and take us to eat at the towers that was his castle.”

 

“I heard it in a different way,” Hau remarked with a fearful face and tone. “Not much better than your own version Tierno, but there were stories of ghosts who were bound to the castle forever for their sins by the order of the Renegade Dragon, and in revenge for that, they would kill anyone that ever stepped into their prison.”

 

“How come I never heard of that?” Leo asked with a face mixed with horror and questioning, but all he got with a shrug from the two. “But either way, my story is that witches often meet there, plotting to destroy the kingdoms around it because they were scorned for their knowledge in the dark arts.” 

 

“ _ Who would be foolish enough to reveal their knowledge in illegal magic?”  _ Rakutsu wondered, but knowing he couldn’t just rely on one story, he nodded at the trio as a sign of gratitude. “Thank you, for telling me about this you three.”

 

“It’s not a problem,” Leo assured.

 

“Hey Rakutsu!” a voice called from behind.

 

Rakutsu turned over, to see the messenger Sapphire, her hand clutched on the top of her coat as she gave him her usual endearing smile. 

 

“What is it Sapphire?” he asked.

 

“Emma’s here,” she said, then gave him a smirk that meant she’s thinking something that is inappropriate for young children. “She’s in your bedroom right now.”

 

Pretending to not have seen the expression she wore on her face, Rakutsu nodded, and left to the room, secretly excited to see his best friend back on her travels while trying to remain dignified in front of Sapphire and think of a better way to convince her and the other people of the castle that Emma would never settle down for a marriage without revealing that she’s actually over two thousand years old and an equal to the Venerated Sorcerers.

 

When he arrived to his room, he saw the said sorcerer sitting on his bed, her knees pointed at the air as she stared at the mahogany patterned walls and petted the Meowstic that was sleeping in her lap, not caring on the fact that she left her staff and dirty, worn shoes on the floor next to the bed, or the filled black quiver and its more mangled and burnt counterpart, the black armor in the form of a cloak, hanging on the bedpost at the bottom of her feet in a room that was not hers.

 

But of course, because they were friends and Rakutsu was completely fine with these rude but non-harmful habits of hers, he simply smiled and closed the door, instantly catching both Emma’s and Mimi’s attention.

 

“Hi Rakutsu,” she greeted with a wide and friendly smile as she moved from her lying position to a sitting one, Mimi mimicking her expression before jumping to the spot next to her half-human friend.

 

“Hey Emma,” he greeted back, as he walked towards the bed and seated himself next to his friend’s Meowstic companion. “What do you need?”

 

Suddenly, the friendly blue eyes she often wore around him was gone, instantly replaced by one of great solemnity and ancientness, the one he would often see when she was faced with a very important situation.

 

“Have you ever wondered about the castle in the “impenetrable” forest?” she asked, her voice filled with the same somberness her face bore.

 

Surprise smacked him from the words she just said, as of course, he really didn’t expect that, since any normal person would never ask a question like that. But Emma wasn’t a normal person, or a full one anyways. “Yes,” he replied, nodding his head. “But no one knows what’s with it but they make up stories about it.” He shrugged. “I really don’t know what to believe in.”

 

“Well, the castle is actually the house of a princess named Faitsu, the daughter of Blue who has been sleeping for a hundred years,” she started. “Today’s the day when she fallen asleep.”

 

A few moments past by in silence for the man’s usually swift thought stream to register that.

 

Then it stopped.

 

“Wait,  _ what?”  _ he spluttered, staring at the woman with disbelief as he tried to see any sign the woman was lying, or simply teasing him. Nothing, but the solemnity and ancientness she always held when meeting a conflict by the eye.

 

“She had to do that, unless she wants to die by the wrath of a lieutenant of Jirachi,” she explained. “But anyways, the castle was surrounded by the forest in order to make sure nobody come in, and to ensure it even further, have the roofs of the towers to only appear, that way people can scare each other with stories.”

 

“I can see how effective that is.”

 

“Indeed,” she said, then sighed. “Great precautions were made since the incident similar to this, but instead of an angry lieutenant Jirachi and a princess, it involved an angry Xerneas and a noblewoman who is my niece, who’s long dead.”

 

Rakutsu winced at the thought of the usually benevolent god placing a curse on a most likely innocent girl. “Did it end badly?” he asked, hoping that it wasn’t one of the stories where all who dared to anger the gods or their very powerful lieutenants ended up in a punishment worse than death, even if they were innocent or didn’t deserve it.

 

Her face suddenly morphed into one of great revulsion and fury, one that usually meant an axe filled with corrosive poison would be planted on the poor victim’s head. “No, it ended rather happily, but the girl was raped by some slimeball of a king in her sleep, had two children from it, almost got killed with her children by the hands of his wife, but managed to survive in the end to marry the one who caused the whole problem with his wife in the first place.” She took a deep breath and sighed, before looking at him with a calm smile. “But anyways, I’m not here to tell you a story from my strange life, I’m here to tell you that you need to wake up the princess.”

 

“Well, that is no surprise,” he replied, though a little unnerved on how his friend could easily change a topic of dark manner to a lighter one. 

 

“And I’m very glad that I got you chosen to wake up the princess,” she sighed, then let out a small laugh. “If we let Silver and Ruby do it, it would take all of eternity.”

 

Rakutsu laughed along with her, for it was always amusing to imagine the two very overprotective men glaring with great distaste at some poor young person. “Indeed. It seems like  _ nothing  _ can please those two when it comes to their loved ones.”

 

“Yep,” she agreed, smiling at the thought of her very strict cousins, but was quickly replaced with a stoic face. “But we should go now.”

 

Rakutsu’s smile also vanished. “Agreed,” he said, then went over to open the window that overlooked the plains beyond the walls, a preparation for their unorthodox exit.

 

Almost immediately after he did so, a Honchkrow appeared by his side, with a Meowstic mounted on her back. Giving him what seemed to be a grin, she then took off into the light blue sky, the white and violet tails waving in the wind as if taunting him to follow after.

 

Grinning back at the challenge Emma had offered, Rakutsu jumped out of the window, and raced after her into the mysterious, but exciting, unknown.

When Rakutsu arrived at the edge of the forest, he decided to observe further of the forest, in hopes of seeing anything strange within it. But whatever unusualness was in it was blocked from sight by the masses of brown vines, cloaked in thorns that snaked all over the towering trees to form a thick wall filled with claws that chased away anyone with the heart to go through it. But of course, he wouldn’t, for he had a task that waited ahead.

 

Almost after the thought had past his mind, a cool wind brushed on his side. When his eye shifted to where it came from, he caught a flash of dark blue light, soon disappearing to reveal a young looking woman with a Meowstic on her shoulder, standing next to him.

 

“Yes, the “Impenetrable Forest”,” she said in serene calmness, taking off her black bracelet that formed into a staff as she did so. “Born from the call of Yellow, powerful enough to withstand the poison of a Dragalge at its highest power.” She sighed. “Believe me, I tried. I had to get it off before anyone noticed.”

 

“From the many stories you told of her, I’m not surprised,” he remarked, watching as she went up to the wall of brambles.

 

“It would take me thousands of years to achieve her level of skill without making myself fall unconscious or die,” she agreed, then placed the tip of her staff in between two vines of thorns. Muttering some incomprehensible words that he knew was a spell cast in her native language, the brambles soon glowed with a light green light, before moving away to show a path that lead to dark unknown.

 

“Don’t worry about getting lost,” Emma said, before Rakutsu could think of that. “Yellow enchanted the path to lead to the castle and for whoever goes through it to know where they’re going.”

 

“Thank you, Emma,” he said with a smile.

  
“Not a problem,” she replied, giving a smile along with Mimi. “Now go.”

 

Without speaking a further word, he nodded, and went into the darkness.

“ _ This castle seems so….dead,”  _ Rakutsu thought, as he walked down the bare, but somehow familiar, halls of the palace. Though he knew that he wasn’t the only living person in the eerily silent place, it still didn’t give him much comfort against the thought of something, or  _ someone,  _ was lurking in the shadows, ready to strike the moment he let his guard down. 

 

But he knew he couldn’t leave. Emma needed him.  _ Faitsu  _ needed him. He couldn’t disappoint his dear friend, and who knows what would happen to Faitsu and the rest of the castle’s people if he left them in their slumber for another hundred years or more, where they would most likely lose the spell that had protected them for so long. 

 

So with that thought in mind, he continued onward, but the icy fear still followed after him, until he stopped at a simple white door, where the path seemingly ended.

 

“ _ I would’ve thought a princess’s door be more elaborate,”  _ he thought, but shrugged. “ _ Must be a modest one.”  _ He reached out to the doorknob, and slowly turned it. 

 

And what waited behind was the most shocking, yet beautiful, sight of his life.

 

On a white bed that stood ahead, there laid a girl, fifteen or sixteen years of age from what Rakutsu gathered on the place he stood. But unlike those of her age, she had beauty, beauty so radiant and great, she could’ve been a goddess in disguise, or at least, not of the earth.

 

Nearly the moment after the thought past his mind, a tremor of awe washed all over Rakutsu’s body and mind. Surprise overwhelmed the man, not from her tremendous beauty, but from the emotion he had from her. He was a man of great restraint and control! How could this girl be so beautiful, so beautiful that she seemed to not be of mortal blood, made him shake in his shoes? He was the one who made women quake in their knees, not the other way around!

 

But he knew that it was no use contemplating on the foreign feeling that had entered his mind. He had work to do.

 

So, with focused gaze on the floor, he took a step forward, followed by another, and another. “ _ Don’t look up….don’t look up…”  _ he reminded to himself, as each step has past. If he could wake her up before an undignifying act pass on to him, he would be content. 

 

But as you may have expected, temptation for one more glance at the girl fell onto Rakutsu, and before he could realize it, his eyes were already on the heavenly mortal that laid ahead. Instantly, he fell onto his knees, a crowning moment of his long and highly-skilled career in wooing women.

 

“ _ Oh crap,”  _ he thought as soon as the realization that he was on the floor dawned on him. This wasn’t how he wanted to be seen. But before he could make himself stand up, a shuffling of sheets from the bed ahead was caught in his ears, soon passing to reveal a very beautiful girl, staring at him with wide, friendly sapphire blue eyes.

 

“Hello Rakutsu,” she greeted kindly.

 

A variety of emotions consisting of embarrassment, confusion, and awe swarmed Rakutsu’s mind almost immediately after the words left her mouth. What was he supposed to do? To say? She was certainly beautiful, beautiful enough to have some effect on him, and her voice….

 

“U-uh h-hi F-faitsu,” he stuttered, before cursing to himself. This wasn’t what he was supposed to say!

 

But fortunately for him, Faitsu had already prepared her words for her savior from her long time of dreaming, and said, “How about you stand up and take a seat next to me?”

 

Surprise on his undignifying act being ignored washed over Rakutsu, but he nodded, and getting up from his knees, he took a seat next to her legs and stared at his fingers, hoping to not let her see any other sign of embarrassment.

 

“So….” he started, not knowing what to do for once.

  
“I heard that you came from the kingdom nearby?” she asked.

 

“Yes. Of the south.” 

 

He can feel her bright blue eyes staring at him with wonder. “Can you tell me more about it?”

 

“Uh...of course!”

 

So they started talking about the home kingdom of Rakutsu, that soon turned into some other subjects that won’t be mentioned, but to keep it brief, they were still talking by sundown, while the castle’s people, who had woke up with very empty stomachs, had already finished preparing the feast that celebrated their awakening and sent the lady in waiting Crystal to fetch them for dinner.

 

As you can expect from someone who was sent to a room where a princess and her savior were all alone, with no prying eyes near them, the woman was pleasantly surprised to see both of them talking so happily that they didn’t acknowledge her entrance in the room, but ignoring this very minor misdemeanor, she closed the door, instantly catching their attentions.

  
“Oh hi Crystal,” Faitsu greeted with a smile. “What do you need?”   
  


“Dinner’s done,” she replied, then raised an eyebrow. “Aren’t you hungry?”

 

“Oh,” was all she said, before smiling once more. “I guess I was talking so much with Rakutsu that I didn’t notice.”

 

“ _ But you’ve been talking since this morning. It’s sunset now,”  _ Crystal thought, but she simply nodded. “Alright. Just be down soon.”

 

“Of course Miss Crystal,” Rakutsu said with an assuring smile, and the woman nodded, before leaving the room and closing the door.

 

Immediately after she left, Faitsu got out of her bed and into her closet, while Rakutsu went over to the door and waited for her, as she was one of the women who would take their time in choosing clothes for formal occasions. When she was done, they both went down to the feast, where they had a wonderful time of eating delicious food, listening to the excellent music of the musicians who, surprisingly, hadn’t lost much of their skill after a hundred years of sleeping, and talking merrily with the people of the castle and Faitsu’s family, consisting of her parents, her cousins X and Y, who joined to give back the crown to its original owner and eat, and Emma, who wanted to help with the business and get some food for the night.

 

When this all of the celebration had reached a calmer level, Rakutsu then made an announcement.

 

“I’m going to marry Faitsu!” 

 

Silence fell onto the table, except for the sound of Emma spitting out her drink on the table, quickly followed by stares at the prince and his friend.

 

“Is there something you need to tell us, Emma?” Y asked, glancing at the prince with confusion before to her cousin, who was cleaning up her mouth with a napkin.

 

“Oh, it’s just surprise that someone would marry in this short span of time,” she replied, then smiled, though Rakutsu knew it was one not of genuinity. “Nothing to be concerned of.”

 

“But either way, I’ll allow it!” Red said with a beam, then turned towards the servants at the table. “Now go set up the wedding.” He then turned towards a short, ginger man by the name of Trevor. “And go get your book too. I need to talk with my family, future son-in-law, and his friend first.”

 

“Yes Your Highness,” he along with several servants said with a bow, before they stood up from their seats and took their leave to their rooms that is the personal quarters and the main hall that was large enough to host a wedding respectively.

 

When all of them had disappeared, Red stood up and walked out to another room, followed by his family and Rakutsu, still holding onto his smile until he turned to Emma, which immediately disappeared in favor of a solemn expression. 

 

“Alright, what do you need to tell us Emma?” he asked, his voice filled with worry. “Although I haven’t met you until today, I can tell you’re lying.”

 

Emma’s false smile quickly vanished at those words. “Well, the marriage was not part of the plan for very good reasons,” she explained with a voice that was as somber as her face.

 

Worry immediately fell on everyone’s face when they hear those words, except for X, who simply raised an eyebrow, and Rakutsu, whose manner didn’t seem to change at all.

 

“What is it Emma?” Blue asked, her voice laced with anxiety. “Don’t leave us in the dark here.”

 

She sighed, before saying, “Rakutsu’s father is a human-eating monster.”

 

Instantly, everyone turned to the mentioned man, whose face didn’t even seem to twitch at the insulting, but brutally honest, words of the father he loved very much.

 

“Everyone, I can not prove that he is or isn’t one,” he replied, his voice as cool as the face he wore, but his eyes were like sharp steel. “But I can assure you, he won’t do that. After all, I love him, and he loves me back.” 

 

“That’s what I thought when I was your age when I allied myself a man who I thought was as bitter and broken-hearted as me,” Emma sighed. “Turned out he was selfish, like most of the people that I encountered at that time, and only wanted to use me to get Zygarde’s power and destroy whoever was in his way.”

 

The memory of the man she mentioned Lysandre instantly flashed in Rakutsu’s mind, but he shook it off. It wasn’t a time to think of things like that right now. “Emma, my father isn’t like Lysandre,” Rakutsu said. “He’s not that selfish to try to eat anyone close to me.”

 

“Everyone has their own limits Rakutsu,” she replied with a sigh. “Diamond’s was reinforced by the threat of being killed the moment his wife caught him, but that no longer exists since she’s dead.”

 

“And besides, we can just keep the marriage a secret and Faitsu and any future children here,” he continued, ignoring the words of his friend. “My father can’t kill any children if he never sees any in the first place.”

 

“I’ve heard of that plan many times before Rakutsu. They always end up failing.”

 

“But that doesn’t mean we can try,” Faitsu pointed out. “It sounds like a solid plan if you ask me.”

 

“You’re just too in love with this mortal to understand Emma’s words,” X scoffed, rolling his eyes and crossing his arms. 

 

“X has a point,” Y agreed, giving a warning look to the princess then to her parents. “How long can she avoid Diamond, especially since the chances of her having children are high?”

 

Blue bit her lip, as her blue eyes flickered between the prince and her berthen, while Red’s remained cool, calculating the points to a decision underneath it, leaving an awkward silence in the air. 

 

“Please father?” she asked, her eyes filled with pleading.

 

Red turned to her and smiled, before saying, “Alright. But promise me that you will never go to meet Diamond.”

 

“Of course father,” she said and smiled, dipping her head while ignoring the groans and the faces slammed into the palms from X and Y and the defeated look in Emma’s eyes. She then went with Rakutsu back into the dining room, followed after her parents and very forlorn cousins, where they waited until the wedding was finished in being set up, before leaving to the main hall where they were secretly married and after that, live happily ever after.

  
Hahahhahahahahah. No.


	3. The Monster

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Diamond is evil and trying to eat Fai and kids. That's pretty much it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Characters: Dawn and Day (Lillie and Gladion), Queen-Mother (Diamond), Emperor Cantalabutte (Gold), Chief Steward (White), Steward’s Wife (Black)

As you should have known by now, something bad’s going to happen in this chapter, but let’s not focus on that, shall we? We have some important matters that is needed to be covered first before the suffering of the princess and her husband is revealed, which all of us are anxious for. So let’s continue.

As you should’ve guessed by now (if you didn’t, I am honestly questioning on whether to applaud you for your innocence or wonder what your parents were thinking when they raised you), Faitsu and Rakutsu had a honeymoon in their bedroom, though it lasted only for one night, as the young man had decided to return home the next morning to tell his father an explanation for his sudden disappearance, even though Diamond was one with a Psychic spirit and can be contacted by telepathy.

But anyway, when the young man arrived at the personal quarters of his father, Diamond immediately shot up from his seat and cried, “Rakutsu! Where were you!? You didn’t come home last night!”

“Sorry Father for that,” Rakutsu replied, his head dipped down and hands clasped together in a gesture of apology. “I went with Emma on an adventure yesterday and got into a fight with a wild Hydreigon, so we had to go rest at the doctor’s house for the night.”

Diamond, being one of very relaxed or very dim-witted nature, simply said, “Ah alright Rakutsu. I hope she’s doing fine.”

And so, because of this clever technique that had been used in this situation and the many after, Rakutsu had managed to spend five years of sneaking away from the castle he lived to visit Faitsu, where during that time, he fathered and cared for two children named Lillie and Gladion, who evidently, bore the excellent tastes of their parents through their names. But like all techniques, it becomes ineffective as time goes on, and this is certainly no exception, with Diamond eventually becoming suspicious at the constant excuses his son made when he disappeared for several nights on end, as any good parent would. And as any good parent would most likely do, he came to the conclusion on why his son often vanished from the castle’s premises.

“He must be having secret revels with the mysterious mercenary girl!” he cried aloud, alone in his room one night when Rakutsu was gone from the castle as always.

“Is there something wrong Your Majesty?” a servant asked from outside.

“Oh nothing! Just doing fine!” he replied, then thought, “How am I going to persuade him to settle down? Surely, it must be exhausting having to escape for personal time.”

Then brilliant realization hit him.

“I will talk to him over tea!”

The next day, when Rakutsu returned, Diamond went to the entrance hall, where he pulled the prince into embrace.

“Rakutsu! I missed you!”

“But Father, I had been gone for only two days.”

“But still! You’re my son after all! I want to hear about your–uh–”

“Slaying of a Hydreigon that has been taking too much food in the forests down south.”

“Yes! And over dandelion root tea and frosted cookies! Your favorite!”

“ _He’s trying to get something out of me, isn’t he?_ ”Rakutsu thought, then shrugged inwardly. “But there’s nothing wrong with some nice bitter tea and cookies.” He nodded, and gestured for Diamond to lead the way.

Diamond nodded back, and started to head in the direction to the courtyard, Rakutsu following him, until they came onto the sight of a small white table with a plate of frosted cookies and two cups of steaming tea set, seated next to a patch Gracidea flowers.

“ _Faitsu would love this,_ ” he thought, before taking a seat.

Diamond followed after, and started taking a bite in one of the cookies. “This is delicious! Black outdone himself on this Rakutsu! You should try it!”

Rakutsu took a cookie and bit into it.

“Wow….these are good,” he thought as he chewed slowly on the treat in attempts to savor it. “Black must’ve put so much effort in this.”

“So tell me Rakutsu, on how you slayed the dragon,” Diamond said. “ _Or something appropriate to say aloud on what you did with the mercenary girl._ ”

“Well, it took a long time to find the Hydreigon, but we managed to find it, then kill it thanks to ours and our Pokemon’s powers. After that, we found our way back home,” he explained, then shrugged. “Nothing too out of the ordinary about that.”

“But it is extraordinary that you manage to defeat a wild Hydreigon with a small team like that,” Diamond pointed out. “Your relationship with your Pokemon is impressive, and with that mercenary girl–er, what’s her name?”’

“Emma.”

“Emma, that there must be something deeper than friendship,” he finished.

“ _So Father’s assuming that my meetings with Faitsu and the kids are just me and Emma doing secret lover stuff and trying to get me to settle down,_ ” he thought, then shrugged inwardly. “ _Not surprising and easy to get out of._ ”

He gave his father his signature charming smile. “Father, we are simply friends, war comrades, partners in crime if you will. There is nothing between us at all.”

“Though it is strange that the reasons why you leave is to help Emma with something,” he said. “I know you say she rather travel than marry many times, but that life does get draining if you want to keep your own word in your own actions.”

“She just needs help, that’s all,” Rakutsu said. He then proceeded to eat and drink for the rest of the tea session, making it very hard for Diamond to talk to him.

If you guessed that Diamond didn’t stop after that incident, then I applaud you for being a clever individual. After the tea and cookies incident, Diamond’s methods of persuading Rakutsu to settle down became less and less subtle, and Rakutsu’s refusal for it became more vocal and vocal, for as a very honorable man, he respected the promise Faitsu made to her father, and though Rakutsu had the foolishness to have faith that his father wouldn’t harm anyone for no reason, he was wary of keeping any children near him, proving that he had some sense compared to the many men who were in a similar situation as his.

But of course, this kind of life isn’t meant to last forever. At the end of the five years, Diamond suddenly stepped down from the throne, claiming that the fatigue of old age had caught up to him and that he could no longer efficiently manage the country, leaving Rakutsu as the sole ruler of it. Though this seemed to be a perfect opportunity to reveal that he was actually a married man and crush all the hopes and dreams of the women around the area, Rakutsu didn’t, because of what I mentioned before. You can imagine how disappointed Diamond was if he planned it.

Anyway, after a few years past since the coronation of Rakutsu, he grew lonely and miserable in the palace, for because of the burdens that were the duties of the king, he couldn’t see his wife and children. Though they often talked through telepathy and were able to see each others’ faces, it still wasn’t enough compared to seeing each other in real life.

One night, while Rakutsu was busy signing some papers, he thought, “If I can only see Faitsu and the children again.” He sighed, and continued the work. He knew he couldn’t. Between the weeks of reading and signing documents and ensuring the defenses near the western part of the kingdom did not falter from its duty, he had no energy or time to visit them.

Then, as luck would have it, wonderful realization hit Rakutsu.

“ _I can bring Faitsu and the children to the mansion in the countryside!_ ” he thought, smiling as the newfound glee surged through him. “ _We can have fun there, and I get to spend time with them and not focus on this work! And Emma can take care of all this!_ ” And now you know the catalyst of another incident in the miserable and unfortunate life of Faitsu, and her husband who unluckily got into that mess.

But anyway, when the next day came, Rakutsu then made the announcement of a temporary absence to the court, assuring that all of his duties will be placed in the hands of Emma and that he would be accompanied by Black, the royal chef and a close friend of Rakutsu from the days when he personally served the prince, and his wife White, the chief steward, in this period of time. As you can expect, this matter was readily agreed since the court held the king’s well-being in highest concern and didn’t suspect anything deeper. With that, he left on a Rapidash-drawn carriage with his trusted servants to the castle where his dear wife and children lived, and took them to the mansion in the countryside, where they spend in great joy, splashing in the lake nearby, playing on the meadows and small hills, and at night, listen to the stories of his father as he recounted the ones he heard from his dear friend.

Now that the important matters are covered, we can now cue the presentation of suffering.

Several days after the king has left from his duties, Rakutsu was walking alone near the mansion during a wonderful sunny morning, admiring the trees that surrounded the place, when a familiar voice echoed his mind.

“ _Rakutsu!_ ” it cried.

The young man immediately stopped in his tracks when he heard it, and replied, “ _Emma! What is it?_ ”

“ _Gold’s kingdom is invading right now and I need reinforcements! The fighters I have won’t stand much long against him!_ ”

“ _An invasion?_ ” he thought, stress and worry quickly dripping within, before nodding. “ _Got it,_ ” he replied before dashing over to the entrance of the mansion stables, where he stopped at the sight of Black walking out while whistling a merry tune.

“Black! I have to go back to the castle!” Rakutsu cried, fear evident in his voice. “An invasion is happening! Stay here with Faitsu and the children!”

“An invasion is happening!?” Black and White, who was a distance away, exclaimed as the king to dash into the stables.

“I just said that!” the king cried as loudly as he could from the stable, before galloping out on his Rapidash and giving the two servants a quick glance. “Just stay here with the kids and Faitsu!”

“Got it sir!” both cried, watching as the king took off in great speed on the Pokemon. After he was completely gone from sight, Black returned to the house, where he started to cook the morning meal of the queen and her children, the worries for his master placed aside for the task that laid ahead.

When he was finished with cooking the food, he heard the soft patter of the footsteps of Faitsu, who was dressed in her white daily gown, drowsy from her night sleep.

“Good morning Black,” the queen yawned, then went into the dining room and took a seat.

“Good morning to you too milady,” Black replied as he placed down a plate of eggs and bread and a cup of milk in front of the queen. “How did you sleep?”

“Very well,” she answered as she picked up a piece of the egg with a fork. “So how’s your morning?”

“ _Well, I kind of have to tell you that your husband is out fighting against a king who can give him quite a trouble, and would either die or be stuck on the battlefield for the whole season, so I guess it isn’t going so well,_ ” Black thought, but he simply nodded. “Going fine. The day’s nice after all.”

“I see,” Faitsu said, then went back to eating her breakfast in silence, letting Black to go into the kitchen and get an apple to eat for his mid-morning snack.

After some time of complete quietness past, the queen asked from the table, “Where is Rakutsu, Black? He’s usually in the house by now.”

“ _Oh crap, I have to tell her,_ ” Black thought, feeling the sweat forming near his forehead dripping down to his neck. With a sigh, he placed the apple down onto the counter, and walked out of the room, where he was quickly greeted with the sight of Faitsu giving him a very worried look while holding a fork with a piece of the yellow egg on it.

“Black….what’s wrong?” she asked.

“Well...you see…” Black started, scratching his damp head. “The king, kind of, has to, fight against the invasion at the western side of the kingdom.”

“An invasion!?” Faitsu exclaimed, dropping her fork as she stared at him in horrified shock.

“And I really don’t want to say this, but uh, the kingdom’s he’s fighting against has a very competent leader and if he’s lucky, he would be stuck on the battlefield for the whole season,” he finished, now completely soaked in his sweat, while the princess slumped onto her seat, her hand covering her forehead as she took her time to digest the newfound information.

“ _How could this happen? Would Rakutsu be alright? Would he get lost, attacked by the invaders’ scouting Pokemon, or killed by a band of outlaws?_ ” she thought, sorrowfulness and franticness filling her as even more thoughts of such things flooded her.

But fortunately for her, it all vanished when she felt the comforting and damp hand of Black on her shoulder and saw his reassuring smile and gaze. “Don’t worry Faitsu,” he said. “Rakutsu can handle it. Even if it was Gold he’s fighting against, he’ll make it alive, no matter what.”

Faitsu gave him a small yet grateful smile. “You’re right Black. Rakutsu is a survivor, and a stubborn one. He won’t go down so easily.”

“That’s the spirit,” he said. “Now finish your food before it gets cold.”

“Of course Black.”

And so it was for the next several days, filled with the normal, ongoing daily lives of the royal family and their trusted retainers. Strange to hear that this atmosphere occurred when a war was happening in the western side of the kingdom, especially among those who are very much affected, but that was simply the way of life in both peace and war. Though the lingering thought on Rakutsu’s well-being had certainly past in his servants’ and wife’s mind, it was always chased away by the consoling thought that the king would survive through the horrors of the ghastly sights on the wargrounds, as he always would.

But of course, this would be all shattered. And not in the way you would think.

One breezy, cool morning, White was outside in the garden watering the flowers, when she heard a loud knock on the large main gate that guarded the house, along with the whinnying and stamping of the Rapidash. Going over to the gate and opening it with the spell, she was quickly caught with surprise when she saw a woman clad in a green hood and black dress, wearing a calm and expectant expression on her face. A handful of guards behind her watched them both, holding the same expectant expression that the woman had, as they leaned against the halberd in their hands or the grand white carriage that was bound to the reins of four Rapidash.

“Good morning, Mrs. Shiro-Kuro,” the lady said. “I would like to inform you that Diamond has come here in order to hide away from the invaders in the case that they are able to break through the ranks of the western walls and reach the castle. I apologize for any inconvenience that we brought with his surprise coming, but it is a must, since going from the castle to here is a very long way and the Rapidashes are tired.”

“ _OH GODS IT’S DIAMOND!_ ” White screamed in her mind, though she managed to muster a near genuine smile. “Yes, of course,” she said as calmly as she could. “Diamond’s always welcome.”

The lady nodded and went back to the carriage, leaving enough time for White to run back to the house, grab an apron and a simple brown dress, and barge into Faitsu’s bedroom, who woke up to the sound of White’s loud footsteps.

“What is it White?” Faitsu yawned, before being yanked out of bed by the older woman and thrown into the closet with the brown dress and apron following after.

“Get dressed in that,” White said before the princess could answer. “Diamond is staying here and we don’t need him to realize that his son is married. I’ll dress Gladion and Lillie later. Stay here until I come up.”

A brief silence fell onto the room, before being shattered by the voice in the closet who said “All right”, allowing for White to leave the room and come greet the king and his attendants with Black, who tried to seem friendly without looking surprised. When it came to an end, Black beckoned for her to come with him to the hallway, where there was no one but themselves.

“Can you please explain what’s going on here?” he asked, then glanced at the door with suspicion and fear.

White sighed. “I don’t know much either. All I know is that Diamond is being fearful of the war and is staying here for a while because it’s safer. Don’t worry about Faitsu and the children, she has a disguise on and her children will too. I’ll teach them their roles later.”

Black sighed, though in relief. “That’s good. Let’s just hope that Xerneas will be merciful to us.”

“I hope so too Black,” White sighed. “I hope so too.”

* * *

 

After the conversation the two had, they both parted to their own duties, White’s being helping Faitsu and her children to fully immerse themselves in the life of a cleaning servant and Black’s being to cook the food for the inevitable large dinner that would happen later in the day. When the time finally arrived, the two took it as an opportunity to formally introduce the “servant” and her children to Diamond, with most of it been done by White.

“So Rakutsu hired this young widow when she was charmed by his dashing looks?” Diamond asked after the steward finished the introductions.

“Yes,” White replied, shaking her head with a smile. “She would never admit it to him though.”

“But either way, I can see that my son is working to be a great king,” Diamond said with a smile.

“Indeed,” Black remarked with a smile. “I’m glad to be of service to him.”

“And Faitsu is also a good cleaning servant,” White continued. “The hallways she worked on were absolutely _spotless_.”

“And a stealthy one too,” the lady in the hood remarked. “I hadn’t seen her until now.”

“Which makes her even more excellent!” White cried. “Now let’s start the dinner shall we? We don’t want Black’s excellent cooking get cold!”

“Of course!” Diamond laughed. “The trip from here to the castle is pretty tiring!”

And with that, everyone started the feast on pleasant emotions, the reasons for the newcomers’ arrival seemingly forgotten in their minds. This is what continued in the next few days, near constant peacefulness and relaxation among the minds of the residents, save for Diamond, who suffered from the temptations of gluttony that would lead him into grave danger. Of course, nobody noticed a strange thing happening the man, for he hid it quite well, despite struggling very much from it. Or they were just idiotic. Whichever suits you the most.

But continuing on. Diamond eventually succumbed to those temptations, which really isn’t that surprising, and went up to White one evening with a rather disturbing request.

“For my dinner tomorrow, I want Gladion,” he said with a relaxed expression.

“ _OH ARCEUS AND ALL OF THE GODS IT’S HAPPENING!_ ” the poor woman thought frantically, and this time, made no effort to hide it. “Sir, I really really really don’t – “

“That is my will,” Diamond said, his voice filled with hunger and threat as his eyes glowed in a menacing shade of red before quickly vanishing to give way with his usual relaxed smile. “And also serve him with piquant sauce.”

“O-of course Y-your M-majesty,” she stammered, then watched as the man left the room and closed the door. Immediately after that, she threw herself onto the bed, and rubbed her forehead, letting herself to think on her situation.

“ _What do I do?_ ” she thought. “If I don’t kill Gladion, I’ll be executed, if I do, he dies, Faitsu would be grief-stricken, and I would be held responsible by Rakutsu if he finds out…I can’t hide him either, it’s too risky…”

“Hey White,” a familiar voice greeted the woman.

“Hey Black,” she greeted back, sitting up and turning towards her husband, who gave her a concerned look as he closed the door and walked over to the bed.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

“Diamond finally asked me to serve one of Faitsu’s children to him,” she answered with a mournful tone.

“Aw damn.”

“And that’s just an understatement,” White sighed. “I don’t have any idea on what to do, and gambling on the chance that hiding him would succeed is a pretty horrible idea.”

“Well, that’s the only thing we have that make sures no one dies,” the chef said, then sighed. “I’ll hunt some of the Mareep in the area and cook it for dinner, we hide Gladion in the cellar, and hope Diamond isn’t obsessed with eating him. And we don’t tell Faitsu or Lillie about this. It would make it suspicious.” And with that plan in mind, the stewart and her husband left to find the provisions for the plan to leave in the cellar, before going to bed, the fear and wariness of the situation still in mind, making it very hard to sleep.

When dawn finally arrived, White went into Gladion’s room, rubbing her eyes as she did so. When she was near his bed, she shook him, eliciting the muttered response, “Let me sleep.”

“I’m going to bring you somewhere,” she said in an exciting tone. “Somewhere that is amazing.”

“Can it wait for later?” he mumbled.

“No,” she replied. “Now get up.”

“No.”

“I’ll drag you out of bed.”

“...Fine,” Gladion mumbled, then sat up, rubbed his eyes, and climbed out of bed. “Now what do I do?”

“You go change into your regular clothes,” she said, resisting the urge to roll her eyes and smile. “Bring some other ones, including night clothes. You will be gone there for a while.” “ _Or forever…._ ”

“Yes Mrs. Steward,” Gladion said, then went into his closet and changed and gathered his clothes for several minutes, before going back out. Taking him by the hand, the steward went out of the room into the long corridors and rooms that ended at a wooden door with iron bars.

Pushing it open, the steward then descended down the short stairs, the boy filled with mystique at the gray walls that surrounded them in a warm light, a spell courtesy of Black, and the many toys that were very familiar to him. Several Bug type Pokemon in the area went up to the stairs to have a closer look at the boy, who smiled back at the friendly creatures.

“They’re so friendly,” Gladion noted. “They would attack us by now.”

“They’re ready to be trained by you,” White explained with a smile. “Treat them well, and they will treat you well back.”

The boy looked up to her with wide, enthusiastic eyes. “Thank you Mrs. Steward!”

“It’s not a problem Gladion,” she assured. “ _If your grandfather doesn’t realized the trick that we pulled on him._ ”

* * *

 

That evening, Diamond ate the Mareep he thought as a widow’s son with a delight so great, he didn’t bother to keep up usual table manners. Black and White of course, were disgusted at the sight, for the meat that the former king was eating could’ve been the son of the woman that sat next to them, who ate her meal in a slow, sorrowful manner with her daughter, for they were mourning over the fact that no one hadn’t seen Gladion all day, and that he was most likely missing or dead somewhere.

When the old man was done with his meal, he gave a smile to Black, who was trying to focus on his stew in order to not show his distaste at the man’s way of eating.

“That,” he started. “Was the best meal I ever eaten. You made the sauce very wonderfully Black, and cooked my favorite meat very well.”

At those words, many of the people on the table start to exchange quiet words to each other, sometimes glancing at the former king and the chef and his wife, while Faitsu let out a yelp, muttering after, “I have to go” before running out of the room, White, the lady in the hood, and Lillie following after.

Black nodded slowly, though he still didn’t look up from his stew.

“I place all my efforts to please you with it, sir,” the chef said, hoping his voice didn’t give away his true feelings. “After all, it _is_ my job.”

* * *

 

Eight nights after the rather awkward meal, Diamond went to White in her and Black’s room again, this time, with a request as disturbing as the previous one, but not as frightening.

“For tomorrow’s dinner, I’ll eat Lillie,” he said.

“ _Hey, we can do this,_ ” White thought, repressing the urge to make a confident grin. “He can’t tell the difference between a Pokemon and a human, and he certainly doesn’t care to check the house grounds to see if what he ate is still alive, so Lillie is safe.”

“Of course Your Majesty,” the steward replied with a bow. “Whatever you say, will be granted.”

The former king nodded and turned with a satisfied stride, leaving the room in falsely consoled thoughts. Soon after he left, White took a book from the shelf and laid down on the bed to read it until Black came in with a questioning glance.

“Did Diamond ask to eat one of Fai’s kids again?” he asked. “Because I past by him in a really great mood.”

“Yeah,” White replied. “Feeling confident we can get away with this again.”

“I hope we do,” Black sighed. “If Diamond can’t tell the difference between a Mareep and a young boy, then he might not for a Skiddo and young girl.” He then left the room to gather the belongings of the very near future resident of the cellar, both of them at a mostly peaceful state of mind.

The next dawn, White went to Lillie’s room, and shook her awake, though unlike her brother, who took much less longer, she remained still in her bed.

“Lillie, please wake up,” White said.

Silence.

“Lillie….”

Lillie finally opened her eyes, looking at the woman wearily.

“What is it Mrs. Stewart?” she mumbled from her sheets.

“I’m going to take you to a place where your brother is,” White said.

Lillie’s tired eyes suddenly shone radiantly at those words. “You know where Gladion is? He’s not gone to the Ghost Dragon’s Kingdom like Mother said?”

“Yes, he’s still here,” White continued with a smile. “Right underneath this place in fact.”

“Oh thank the gods!” the girl cried, and flung her arms around White’s neck, surprising the woman. “Thank you, thank you, thank you Mrs. Steward!”

“You’re welcome Lillie,” she said with an awkward smile, patting her gently on the back before pulling her off. “But now go get dressed and bring some other clothes too, you’ll be staying there for a while.”

“Alright Mrs. Stewart!” Lillie chimed, and ran into her closet. When she was done changing her clothes and taking some of them, she took White’s hand, letting the servant to guide her younger master to the brown door with iron bars that lead to the bottom of the mansion.

When the steward opened it, Lillie’s eyes widened in surprise at the boy that stood ahead, and with a great dash, she tackled him into a hug.

“Lillie!” he cried, as she cried into his shoulders.

“Don’t ever leave me and Mother again!” she said in his shirt, tears pouring down her cheek.

“I won’t,” he replied, pulling her away before giving her a smile. “Now let’s go! I have some new friends to introduce to you! Come on guys! Get out!”

White sighed with happiness and relief as she walked out of the door and closed it. Now all they had to do was wait.

* * *

 

That night, Diamond again, devoured the flesh of a regular Pokemon that he thought was a child with a joy so great, he didn’t bother practicing the acceptable manners at the table, though this this time, this disgusting presentation of eating caused many eyes to be averted from him, Black and White especially so, for not only for the nauseating presentation of ways eating on a table with people, but also for the fear and relief of the girl that could’ve been served up as the meal of the king.

Now you may be wondering, “How is Faitsu doing during this whole event?” Very well actually. Sorrowful and brooding so deeply on the fact that she lost two of her children in the last week that she didn’t bother eating much in the past few days, but doing very well.

But anyways, when Diamond finished his meal, he gave a bright smile to the chef, who was busy eating the pasta, and said, “Thank you again, Black, for making such a delicious meal. The sauce was made perfectly, and the roasting of the meat is excellent.”

Right after those words were uttered, Faitsu mumbled, “I need to go”, before pulling out her seat and walk away slowly, the lady in the hood following after as White and several others watched them leave the room before turning away to either exchange words of sympathy for the widow, continue eating their meal in a forlorn mood, or sigh in unable to do anything for the poor servant.

Black nodded as he swallowed down a spoonful of his meal, though without a glance to the king. “You’re welcome, sir, but it’s no problem. It’s my duty as a servant to please you, you know.”

* * *

 

Some time after the second near-cannibalism incident, the king came to White’s bedroom again, with a request again as disturbing as the previous two, but this time, the request possibly was much more terrifying than any of the two combined.

“For my dinner, I’ll eat Faitsu,” he said.

“ _Oh shit,_ ” White thought, feeling a bead of sweat trailing down her neck. “This is going to be hard.” But knowing there is no using in rebelling, she bowed, hoping that it concealed any sign of her true feelings. “Of course, Your Majesty. Anything you want.”

The king nodded and left the room, letting for White to throw herself onto the bed and groan in frustration and worry.

“ _Damn it Diamond, why do you have to make my job so hard?_ ” she thought. “Now I have to think of some Pokemon that can replace Faitsu. I don’t think there are any Pokemon that can pass for a twenty-two year old woman with skin tough from sleeping for a hundred years.”

“Hey White, did Diamond asked you to cook Faitsu?” the familiar voice that is Black asked from the door.

“Yes Black,” White sighed.

“Well shit,” she heard her husband mumbled. “This is going to be hard to pull off.”

“I know. So what do we do now, besides having one of us actually kill her?”

Silence fell onto the room as both laid in the depths of their minds for a hope of a plan, until finally, Black spoke up.

“I’ll go hunt for a Sawsbuck tomorrow and cook it in her place,” he said. “You go convince Fai. She hates you less than me.”

“That seems so easy…” White sighed.

”Any other good ideas?”

“....No.”

“Then let’s get started with that plan then.”

And with that, they both gathered the necessities for the new resident in the cellar and went to bed, though barely a wink of sleep was gathered due to the wariness and fear that lay in their heads of the situation from before.

The next sunrise, White woke up from her short sleep and went into the room of Faitsu, wringing her hands the whole time at the predictions of the reaction that the queen would give.

Though when she arrived and just barely moved an inch of the door forward, she can hear the shuffling of sheets, followed by several footsteps that grew louder by every moment.

“ _She really must hate me or very depressed,_ ” White thought, then sighed, pushing her hair to behind her ear. “Or both. Not that I can blame her.”

She fully pushed the door forward, and not much to her surprise, saw Faitsu, with messy hair and bloodshot eyes that contrasted with her bright blue irises, a clear sign of mourning, yet her fists were clenched as she gave White a cold, hard stare that was filled with much hate.

“I know what you’re here for, White,” the princess snarled, her teeth bared. “I know that you’re here to kill me, like my two children, just to satisfy a gluttonous king who would kill you and Black the moment you dare to disobey him.”

“Faitsu–”

“Kill me then,” she growled, baring her neck towards the steward despite that there was no weapon in her hand. “Kill me, to save your and your husband’s own skin. It’s not like I need to see it anymore. My own two children are dead because of you, you coward.”

“Faitsu, er, that’s where I’m going at. Gladion and Lillie aren’t dead. They’re hiding in the cellar.”

Faitsu’s eyes lightened up at those words, before it turned cold and hard. “Lies. Tricks. You’re just trying to give my hope, then crush it.”

“She’ll need some convincing…” White returned Faitsu’s cold stare with a solemn one. “No, I mean it with all of my heart, Faitsu. I swear on Manaphy’s good heart that I do.”

Faitsu’s eyes widened when she uttered the sacred oath. “You really mean it. Can you show me where they are?”

“Of course Faitsu, but pack your clothes first. It will be a while.”

After the queen packed her clothes, she followed the steward down to the bottom of the mansion, where sat the brown iron-barred door that had protected the residents behind it for a time longer than expected.

“They really are in there?” Faitsu asked.

“Come see it yourself,” White merely replied, and pushed open the door to reveal two small children and some Bug type Pokemon looking at them with happy expressions.

Faitsu gasped, her hands over her mouth, before running into the room and pulling her children into a hug. “Gladion! Lillie!” she cried, tears streaming down her face.

“Mother!” they both cried, clinging on to their mother tighter.

“I miss you so much! I thought you were gone!”

“But we’re here now! And we’ll never leave!” Lillie replied.

White smiled at the scene, for the feeling of tenderness in the heart at the reunion made from a gamble to save their lives, and the children’s naivete. They were so blissfully ignorant of the danger that laid above them.

But she had things to take care of. So before she could hear the offering of Gladion to play with the Pokemon to his mother, she turned back and ascended up the stairs, that lead to the deadly world above.

* * *

 

That evening, Diamond gorged on the large and presumably delicious meat with relish so great, he again didn’t bother to practice the usual manners on the table, causing everyone in the room to avert their eyes from him and eat in silence or talk in hushed voices.

After some time past, the lady in the hood asked aloud, “Where’s Faitsu? I haven’t seen her all day.”

“She decided to return to the castle early in the morning because being here is very distressing for her,” White quickly answered.

“Ah,” she replied with a hint of sorrow, then went back to eating her soup.

When Diamond was finished with his meal, he said to Black with a cheerful manner, “Black, thank you again for cooking this! You’re truly a master in your art.”

“You’re welcome, Your Majesty,” Black said, focusing on a piece of a potato on his plate. “It’s all I can do as your servant.

* * *

 

After Faitsu went into hiding, everything was going very well. Diamond no longer went up to them to ask for a meal made of human flesh, which placed Black and White’s minds at ease, though worry of that he would either figure out their ploy or come soon with a disturbing request was always in the back of their minds.

One night, while Diamond was walking on the bottom floor of the large house, he heard a loud crash from the iron-barred door, followed by silence.

As any rational former ruler did, he opened the door, in hopes of catching a thief and to put them under arrest. But instead of finding any thief or criminal of any kind, he found a woman and two small children, a boy and a girl, surrounded by small Bug type Pokemon. All of them were dressed in simple yet expensive clothing, with the woman staring at him with widened and fearful eyes as she held her two children close to her.

“Wait a minute….” he realized, a twinge of annoyance rising him. “This is Faitsu, Gladion, and Lillie! So they weren’t eaten! Black and White lied to me!”

Suddenly, he heard a thud, and snapped out of his thoughts to see the woman on her knees and hold her hands together tightly, saying in a voice filled with desperation and defeat, “Please sir...please don’t take me or my children! They’re my most precious! Don’t take me from this world either! I still have my father and mother waiting for me!”

“And how am I supposed to allow you be off with your life?” he inquired, leaning his head in as if to have a closer view of her face. “You lied of your own social standing, judging from your clothes, and you managed to escape from my orders, which would be faced with dire consequences.”

“Yes! I know I did something wrong! But please, find it in your heart to forgive me and White and Black!”

“Hmmm…” Diamond thought on the pleads for a moment. Though he had enough energy to walk in the house, he was rather tired in the mind, due to age having caught him, so he wasn’t in the mood to order them to be executed for a small midnight meal. Plus, a part of his deranged mind felt empathy for the woman and her children, for no parent wants to their children or themselves to be caught and eaten by a cannibalistic person, even though that apparently didn’t stop him from doing such a crimes.

“I’ll let you stay in the cellar for your last night,” he said. “By morning, I will have you executed, along with the chef and steward.”

Faitsu didn’t look up to him, but nodded, signalling that she understood his words. Then, Diamond closed the door, allowing for her to start breaking down in tears.

“Oh gods, oh gods, help me,” she pleaded, covering her eyes with her hands.

“Mother, what’s wrong?” Lillie asked.

“Why are you crying?”

Faitsu sighed, knowing it wasn’t any use to keep them in the bliss of ignorance. “We all will be gone to Giratina’s Kingdom tomorrow.”

Lillie’s and Gladion’s eyes widened at those words. “We won’t ever see Father or Grandfather or Grandmother again?” Gladion asked.

“I don’t know on that one, Gladion,” she answered sorrowfully. “But children, you may stay up for the night. There is no use to sleep before going to their kingdom.”

* * *

 

Rakutsu sighed, as he stared on a map that laid flat on the table in front of him. Patrols were already out on all of the camp’s premises and Gold’s forces were mostly defeated, but he still have to remain cautious. The man was a tricky one, willing and able to win to claim a kingdom to boost his ego and give more living area for his people, even if the tides seem to not be in his favor. A shame that he couldn’t have him on his side in political affairs.

“Rakutsu?” a familiar voice said.

The king turned around, to see a very worried Emma looking at him, clutching on her black staff as she tugged on the side of her black sleeping gown.

“What is it, Emma?” he asked.

She started to fidget with the piece of cloth, as she looked down and clenched her teeth as if she was a bearer of bad news. “Diamond has found out that Faitsu and the children are alive and ordered them to be executed by morning.”

Rakutsu’s eyes widened at those words. “Oh gods.”

“I know you want to save them, but it’s night, there is a chance of assassins will find you, and–” she started, before Rakutsu walked briskly over to the door and pushed her aside, his face hardened into calm anger.

“No matter, Emma. I’m going after them. Do not try to stop me.”

Eyes filled of sternness glared at Rakutsu for a few moments, before receding into one of defeat.

“Fine,” she sighed. “I’ll be waiting at the untrodden path of the forest. And hurry. We do not have all night.”

* * *

 

The next morning, a bonfire was set up in the plains near the mansion, with the king, the guards, and the convicted present, with the trio of poor victims’ arms binded together, with the small child Lillie crying and struggling in her bonds while her brother tried to hold back tears, realizing that with the stillness of her mother in her bonds meant hopelessness in their situation.

The announcer of the execution walked out of the crowd and turned to it, unrolling a scroll in his hands as he said, “Today, we declare the servants of Lord Rakutsu Faitsu, and her children Lillie and Gladion, guilty of not working hard enough and lying of their social standing. Due to the proclamation of the king, they will not be trialed and sent to the flames as their doom.”

“Please Giratina, Xerneas, Yveltal, all the gods, have mercy on me and my family,” she prayed, her eyes closed and head bent down in surrender as the announcer said those words. “Please, have mercy!”

“What are you doing, Father!?” a loud voice called from behind.

Everyone, frozen when they heard voice, turned slowly around to see a rather shocking sight behind them.

There, they saw the king Rakutsu, on his Rapidash as he held his sword unsheathed, glaring down at the crowd with weary but fierce red-brown eyes. Emma was beside him, giving a calm, cold look at the crowd as she gripped onto her bow and arrow tightly, as if ready to shoot at one of them, their Pokemon companions, Meowstic and Samurott, behind them in a battle stance.

Diamond couldn’t do anything, but stammer, “Uh–um–er–” as his son calmly galloped over to the convicted side and cut off their ropes.

“You’re safe now,” he whispered to them, before looking up to his father. “But you, father...you will spend the rest of your days in prison for what you tried to do to my wife and my children.”

Diamond’s eyes widened at those words, but before he could say anything, Rakutsu gestured in a way that indicated for the old man to be gone, allowing two guards drag him away.

Faitsu then pulled the young man into a quick kiss, before smiling and said, “Thank you, Rakutsu.”

He smiled back. “It’s no problem. But you have to thank Emma for letting me to rescue you. After all, her connection to Zygarde is what saved you.”

She turned towards the woman, and gave her a respectful nod. “Thank you for helping me and my children.”

“It’s no problem,” she assured, her cold expression vanishing for a smile. “After all, a friend of Rakutsu is one worth saving.”

Suddenly, Faitsu’s smile vanished as she turned quickly towards Rakutsu with a worried face. “Wait! What of Gold and his forces!?”

“Don’t worry, the rest of my army can take care of him. He’s weak right now.” He smirked. “He won’t dare to lay a toe on a grain of dirt here again. Now let’s go back to the mansion. Emma, the Pokemon, and I are tired, and you and the children seem so too.”

And with that, everyone returned to the house for an uneventful peace, resting and chatting amongst themselves before leaving a few days after, where they spent the rest of their lives with no significant events.


End file.
